Princess Anne's Divorce Was The Cheating Scandal That Rocked The Royal Family

The British Royal Family have had their share of scandals throughout the decades, but none have been forgotten like Princess Anne's divorce.

Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips.Gamma-Keystone

When the princess, the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, first announced her engagement to Captain Mark Phillips it was a historic event. It was just the second time in the modern era that a member of the British Royal Family had married a commoner, after the queen's sister Princess Margaret did the same.

She met Phillips, a British Army Captain, through the equestrian competition circuit. The couple said their "I dos" in true royal fashion, with a ceremony at Westminster Abbey in 1973 watched by more than 500 million people around the world.

While Anne's Tudor-style dress with a high collar and long sleeves was very traditional, the couple's wedding including one final break with royal rules: Phillips turned down the traditional customary (as in honorary) royal title, meaning that he stayed a commoner after marriage and the couple's children would not receive titles.